The resale market for guitars has sky rocketed recently. Earnings are incredible, but trustworthy sellers and seller knowledge seems a bit low and buying can be a bit sketchy. Recent ebay changes are supposed to assist in protecting us from fraudulent sellers but it's as simple as this, Buyer Beware!

Do some research before you hit the bid button. Keep in mind some information that you may have not known about.

 Example: Any Guitar that states pre CBS, or pre Lawsuit as a part of their ad... you'd best check it out. The information is out there. Harmony Central is an excellent choice for research. Just do the research, it will be worth the time you spend reading up on the subject. There are loads of input on many sites on the net and oodles of reviews on any particular guitar you may be interested in.

Of course some guitars really are hard to find information on.  Maybe a manufacturer or individual who made only one or two guitars and for a very brief time. But keep looking. Chances are that the information is out there. If it isn't, call a luthier or guitar sales and repair shop. Explain it to them and maybe they can help you decide if the guitar your sourcing is worth it. On the other hand if you have a guitar that you'd like to sell and are not sure of it's identity or model number, serial number etc, this you would certanly want to take to someone before selling. You would not want to give away a rare item nor would you want to misrepresent a item. This will only come back to bite you so get the information before you list.

It's not Rocket Science Folks!!

To a collector their may be a certain type of guitar that they simply love and to them has an incredible heart felt value, not true monetary value. So don't misjudge either way, just look it up. You will be glad you did. 

To a collector you may see a fortune dropped for a piece of crap guitar that does not play well. But was produced during a HOT faze or made by a special guitar maker or maybe it was used by an actor in a Movie.  Then someone came out and made a copy of it to make a few bucks.

Good Example of this would be the Rambo knife. It sold oodles and tons, but was a piece of junk when you needed a real knife.

DO THE RESEARCH, it will pay off big when you see an ad with something like ES-335 - AS73 w/case. This is too little info. You might think it to be an expensive Gibson ES-335 and you bid up to a thousand dollars or more only to win and receive an Ibanez AS73! A equal quality guitar in my book but no doubt it's not a Gibson. The Ibanez maybe 1/3rd or less the value of the Gibson that you thought you was bidding on..

Guitar 101 logic - DO THE RESEARCH.

There are no Early 70's Japanese Fenders, and if it has a two string T it is not a 60's Guitar! That simple.

By the way if you do not know what a string T is? That would be my point on repeatedly saying DO THE RESEARCH. Good Luck and Good Bidding.